


It's A Wonderful Life

by wither_storm_sickness



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Guardian Angel Castiel, It's A Wonderful Life AU, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 07:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8835493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wither_storm_sickness/pseuds/wither_storm_sickness
Summary: Dean Winchester has had a good life so far. He's the owner of Winchester Buildings & Loan, a successful company despite the competition, and although he never got what he wanted in life, he has enough. That is, until an incident involving his Uncle Bobby leaves him $100,000 dollars short, and Dean's life is suddenly in shambles. He decides that the world is better off without him in it. But his grumpy guardian angel says otherwise.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't REALLY an "It's A Wonderful Life" AU per-se...but it's close enough. This isn't really an AU of the movie, more like I'm taking the elements of the movie and making my own thing of it. This is based off of a prompt (link at the end of the chapter). I decided, what the heck. I'll give it a shot. Please subscribe and comment! Also leave kudos. Kudos is good. I like kudos.

Dean Winchester stands on the edge of the bridge, looking down at the churning water below him. He watches as it twists and turns, how it glides over the rocks at the bottom of the river. He takes a steadying breath, preparing himself for what he's about to do.

 

He's had a good life so far. When he was twelve, he saved his little brother's life while they were sledding on some dangerously thin ice--it had cost Dean his hearing in his left ear, but he had never minded too much. He had worked at the ice cream shop and flirted with the girls (and sometimes boys) who came in. He grew up reading National Geographic magazines cover to cover. It was his dream to travel the world, see everything that there was to see out there. He wanted to help people; he wanted to build cars and homes. Maybe even a family, someday.

 

But then, one day, about five years ago, his dad, John Winchester, had died of a heart attack, and Dean, being the eldest son, was left the family business. He was forced to abandon his dreams of seeing the world and take up the mantel of ownership of Winchester Building & Loan.

 

Winchester Building & Loan was a pretty damn successful company, if Dean said so himself. It was pretty much the only business in Bedford Falls that wasn't controlled by Fergus Crowley--the greediest, slimiest capitalist in the known universe. Crowley had almost every business in Bedford Falls under his arrogant thumb, minus the Winchester's, of course. When his dad had still been alive, Crowley had paid him frequent visits, trying to--at first--persuade John to give up his company. When that didn't work, he tried to bully him into submission. That hadn't worked either, and so Crowley had set out to destroy the Winchester family company if it was the last thing he ever did.

 

John Winchester was a clever man, however. He was always one step ahead of Crowley. He dodged several bullets, and there were more than a few close calls, but he managed to defy Crowley and get away with it until his dying day.

 

Of course, John's dying day had eventually come, and Dean became the new head of his father's old business. His first day on the job, Crowley had come sauntering into his office, looking all too pleased with himself.

 

He'd offered Dean a deal; hand over the company now, and he wouldn't make this painful for either of them. Refuse, and Dean was going to find out how much work running against everyone else was going to be.

 

Naturally, Dean refused.

 

Since then, Dean had been battling non-stop with not only Crowley, but the demands of the company. He was utterly selfless, putting everyone else's needs above his own. He couldn't go to college liked he'd always wanted; he didn't have the time anymore. He had a company to run now, and if he even so much as took a nap at the wrong time, Crowley could take over. Dean wasn't about to disappoint his father by losing his precious company to the corrupt businessman. He gave the money he'd been saving for college since he was little to his younger brother, Sam, who went and became a lawyer, and later a war hero during World War II. Dean's real proud of his baby brother for helping people like he does.

 

Because Dean _does_ help people, even if most days he doesn't feel like he does. He gets to build homes for families; a whole new housing development, even.

 

His life so far has been a good one, and Dean knows it. He hasn't been exactly happy, but he had everything he needed. He'd gotten to help people like he's always wanted, and he got to defy Crowley, as a bonus. Everything was good, and Dean couldn't have asked for anything better.

 

Until today, that is.

 

His Uncle Bobby had accidentally misplaced $100,000 dollars when he'd gotten in a fight with Crowley at the bank. Apparently, Bobby could not resist bragging about Sam winning the Medal of Honor for shooting down a kamikaze plane that would have killed several soldiers had he not been there. Crowley had _somehow_ managed to get out of being arrested for harassment (note the sarcasm), and not only that, but he had also managed to grab the money from Bobby before he left without Bobby ever realizing that it was missing.

 

Dean had needed that money for his company. He had been counting on Bobby to get it for him, and now that it was gone, he didn't know what he would do now. That money was the only thing that was between Crowley and the company. Without that money, Dean wouldn't be able to pay for the things that needed to be paid for. His employees would leave him because Dean had missed their paycheck. They'd go and work for Crowley. With no employees, Dean's company couldn't be run, and if his company couldn't be run, then he didn't see what would stop him from just handing over the family business to Crowley. Dean would rather die than give his company over to Crowley, and that's exactly what he intends to do.

 

He realizes that he's still standing on the bridge, his arms at his sides. He clenches and unclenches his fists before taking another deep breath, letting the intake of breath calm him, if only briefly. He steels himself for his final moments, and steps off the bridge.

 

His family will be alright, he thinks as he falls to his death. He's not stupid; he knows they'll mourn both him and the company once he's passed. He knows that they'll have to make do with what they've got when Sam is the one supporting the family, not him. Sam won't take over the company, though--Dean's made sure of that. Sam has always made it exceptionally clear that he doesn't want to do what Dean does, and Dean's fine with that. If Dean had been in his position, he wouldn't have wanted it either.

 

He doesn't worry too much about money for his family. He's got a life insurance policy that puts into writing what he already knows; he's worth more dead than alive. They'll get enough money upon his death to pay for the funeral costs, and then they'll eventually move on with their lives.

 

Dean hopes they will.

 

He reaches the bottom, and the cold water hits him like a slap in the face, which, he doesn't know why that surprises him. It's friggin' December; the water's going to be freezing.

 

He splashes around for a couple of seconds, trying to get his head above the water, when it hits him.

  
He's not dead.

 

At least, he's pretty sure he's not. This isn't what he'd imagined Heaven would look like. He has a moment of terror when he thinks that maybe this is Hell, but he quickly dismisses that thought. No, he has to be alive. He's in the same river that he'd been looking down on not a minute before. He looks up, and sure enough, there is the bridge--only, it's not abandoned like Dean was sure it was.

 

There's a silhouette there. It looks tiny from down here, Dean thinks, and he struggles to get a better look. The silhouette turns, ever so slightly, and Dean feels rather than sees its eyes on him. He wants to shout, to yell at the mysterious figure looming above him, but his lips are frozen. He can't speak. All he can do is stare as the stranger steps onto the ledge and spreads his arms.

 

The figure stays perched on top of the ledge, its arms outstretched, nothing but the moon illuminating his features, and even then Dean can't make anything out of the stranger's face. Somewhere in his mind, Dean already knows what the mystery man is going to do even before he does it. He swan dives off of the bridge and into the river, and Dean's blue lips part in a silent scream as he watches the stranger plummet to his death. Dean doesn't even see him hit the surface of the icy water before he feels a sharp pain in the back of his head and he falls unconscious, his body lost to the screaming current.

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the link to the "prompt" that started this whole thing: http://scones-and-texting-and-murder.tumblr.com/post/135641215186/shootingstarcas-ok-but-its-a-wonderful-life-au
> 
> And I promise, I will try to update this as frequently as I can. I really like this story and I will not give up on it, I promise. It WILL be completed by the end of 2017 (or at least the beginning of 2018.)


End file.
